Sunday, March 6, 2011

The "Ford Nation" is alive and well, just ask George Smitherman, the former Liberal Deputy Premier and right-hand under Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who dared to try and dismiss it and therefore ended up its first victim.

Then there was Rocco Rossi, the former Liberal Party President who though he seemed more reasonable and trustworthy than his then Liberal-brotheren George Smitherman, was unfortunately wearing the same colour "red" that the Ontario Liberal Party wears, not to mention the colour they've made all of Ontario's financial statements become, and he was therefore destroyed by the Ford Nation as well. However, unlike George Smitherman or even Sarah Thomson (the disgraced Mayoral candidate who started off in the race by unleashing her anger against Smitherman and everything he represented as an Ontario Liberal, but then was disgracefully corrupted by the Ontario Liberal Machine and suddenly was in love with Smitherman), at least Rocco Rossi learned his lesson from Ford Nation. Rossi promptly tossed his Liberal affiliation in the trash and traded it for the blue of Tim Hudak's Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

And let's not forget about Joe Pantalone, the NDP's white knight in the Toronto Mayoral Race where Ford Nation was born. Pantalone was absolutely destroyed (and rightfully so) for his and his NDP comrades' failure in managing the City of Toronto with any kind of efficiency whatsoever.

The unofficial Toronto NDP, much like the Ontario Liberals, have become a symbol for waste of taxpayer money and boondoggle after boondoggle, and as much as they will try to deny it, they -and not Rob Ford, should be credited with the creation of the voter-movement that is the Ford Nation. For if it wasn't for their absolutely catastrophic failures at both the Toronto Municipal level and the Ontario Provincial level (inevitably costing Toronto and Ontario taxpayers billions of dollars), this respect-for-the-taxpayer-driven movement would not have evolved.
Ever since the news of the "Ford Nation" was raised by Super Mayor Rob Ford in that now famous NewsTalk1010 interview with Jerry Agar (to hear the interview, visit: Mayor Rob Ford responds to TCHC Gravy), either Torontonians and Ontarians have had a feeling of excitement come over them with the prospect of change-for-the-better-a-coming, or they've been in absolute fear as they are realizing that their gravy train that they've been milking taxpayers from for the past 8 years in Ontario is suddenly going to come to an end. Regardless of whichever side Ontarians land on in this taxpayer revolt, and as much as they'd like to deny it, everyone has taken notice of the Ford Nation.

The Ontario Liberal Machine is out there in full force right now working overtime to try and discount the strength of the Ford Nation. Just look at the Toronto Star. A simple search for "Ford Nation" on their website returned 12 articles on the subject spanning over 5 days from March 2nd to March 6th, and we're just at the beginning of March 6th (Search Results : "Ford Nation" - We found 12 articles for ""Ford Nation""). It started off with 2 articles on March 2nd, 1 on March 3rd, and then 2 on March 4th, 3 on March 5th, and now 3 again on March 6th (so far). If there was nothing to be worried about, then why the sudden flurry of anti-Ford Nation rhetoric coming from the Liberal Toronto newspaper? One would think that if there was nothing to worry about, then there would be nothing to talk about. A simple acknowledgment of the mention of "Ford Nation" by Mayor Ford would have sufficed, but no, they've done the complete opposite and gone on full fire against it. It sounds to me like the red of the Ontario Liberals has either turned yellow in fear, or completely pale white in shock. I'm just waiting to see the total number of articles that come flying out for the Monday morning issue on March 7th, when they have their entire Liberal-corrupted writing force raging against the respect-for-the-taxpayer-movement. But hey, the Liberals have nothing to worry about in the Ford Nation, right? Right...

Unfortunately for newspapers like the Toronto Star, they simply don't seem to learn their lesson when it comes to dismissing the taxpayer anger that is out there in Toronto and Ontario. They disgracefully and blatantly ran a completely biased and nonsensical smear campaign against Rob Ford and essentially the majority of the Star's readership during the 2010 Toronto Mayoral Election, by pushing their Liberal agenda on Toronto and Ontario readers of their newspaper. And to their shock-and-awe, they were left traumatized after the Toronto Election and they've been paying the price for that betrayal of Torontonians ever since. I mean, try and see if the Toronto Star can get even one quote directly from the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford. It kind of questions their entire relevance in Toronto now when it comes to municipal politics, doesn't it? But still they didn't learn their lesson. The Ontario Provincial Election is now getting ramped up, and we are already seeing the Star's Liberal Machine working in full force yet again.

Now, there seems to be some kind of misconception out there (obviously being pushed by the Liberals) that the Ford Nation only applies to Torontonians. And though the "Ford" part of the "Ford Nation" may very well be representative of the Toronto contingent, it also represents the mantras that every taxpayer in Ontario relates with, which are: "Stop the Gravy Train" and "Respect for the Taxpayer". These are 2 phrases that Dalton McGuinty would never be able to understand, as they are in direct conflict with his entire purpose, not to mention his track record. And this is why every single city in Ontario is salivating in preparation for the coming October Ontario Provincial Election, as finally, Dalton McGuinty will feel the wrath of the scorned and abused Ontario taxpayer.

In just taking a quick look around the various cities across Ontario, from the North to the South, to the East to the West, Dalton McGuinty is under fire and Rob Ford is being looked at as a hero. Could it be that Rob Ford is no longer just a symbol representative of Toronto, but moreso a symbol representative of every taxpayer who is fed up with a failed McGuinty Government in Ontario?

Let's look at some of the articles and comments from the readers on the Ford Nation story, and on recent stories about Dalton McGuinty in general, across some of the cities in Ontario:

They thought Rob Ford would fall flat on his face. A bull in a china shop, blundering about at the head of a city he couldn't possibly understand, with his simplistic football coach's brain.

Yet here Ford is with 60% support, threatening to pull the Megacity into a populist revolt against Dalton McGuinty's Liberals. What's up with that?

Maybe it has something to do with this: In his first three months in office, Ford got rid of the vehicle-registration tax, cut councillors' budgets and ended the free food at council meetings. These are all things he promised to do. Symbolic? Absolutely. But symbols matter.

Oh, and Ford also brought in a balanced budget with no tax increases.

Throughout last fall's municipal campaign in the Big Smoke, disdain for Rob Ford and everything he represented was ever-present--among a certain set. Let's call them "Starbuck Nation"--no offence to some fine coffee shops.

Starbuck Nation believes that Rob Ford, and Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, and most of the federal Conservative cabinet, are an embarrassment.

Starbuck Nation's emerging problem, as evidenced by Rob Ford's stubborn refusal to implode, is that it is quickly becoming a political minority. Main Street Ontario is populated by Ford Nation. The bulk of taxes are paid by Ford Nation. Country people, small town people, are mainly card-carrying members of Ford Nation, though they live nowhere near the city limits of Toronto.

Across the province, and especially north of Highway 407, working people are weary of being taken for granted, talked down to, lied to, by turns coddled and ignored, by Queen's Park.

“If the McGuinty Liberals want to study the problems facing the North, they should look in the mirror," said Bisson. "After eight years in office, the McGuinty Liberals are out of ideas, out of energy and Northerners are out of patience."

Hampton noted that today's long-awaited growth plan is long on talk and short on action.

“We don't need a new study to tell us that McGuinty Liberals have devastated the North," said Hampton. “For eight years they've driven up electricity rates, watched our jobs and resources move out of province, and driven up the cost of living with their unfair HST. This so-called plan can't fix their colossal mess."

Hampton noted that before the 2007 election, the McGuinty Liberals made a similar Northern Growth Plan announcement. Now, months away from another election, McGuinty Liberals are still talking about a growth plan.

“The last thing Northern families need right now is four more years of empty rhetoric from an arrogant McGuinty government," said Hampton. "We need a government that's ready to make life more affordable, focus on the cost of electricity, and ensure that the resources of the North stay in the North to create jobs."

The Places to Grow Act was passed in 2006. This 60 page document is a plan to plan the development of Northern Ontario. It asks all municipalities to rewrite their Economic development Plans to coincide with the policies set down in the Act. It asks that residential growth be focused towards the town core and to develop "brownfield" sites with 20 year plans for Industrial growth.

There will be special emphasis on Aboriginal and Francophone needs as far as education, job opportunities health and education. The general gist I get from this plan is that millions of dollars will be spent on consultants to flesh out this plan which is essentially all air and no substance at this point.

Rationalize this airy fairy plan with the reality that it costs $500,000 more or 33% extra in hydro costs to keep our city street lights on this year ($2 million).

voxpopuli

March 5, 2011

This plan is just 'lip service' to northern residents and aboriginal people. The funding quoted in 'the plan' is grossly inadequate to do anything of value.

A plan to create a plan. This is what the provincial government has in its hands as it rolls out its highly-anticipated Growth Plan for Northern Ontario.

They assure it’s a comprehensive framework aimed at guiding Northern Ontario through the next 25 years, developed after a consultation phase so intense it was the subject of more than a little bragging at the plan’s unveiling on Friday.

This plan hits on all the tentpole issues. It’s broken up into sections covering the economy, the people, communities, infrastructure, the environment and Aboriginal people. It touches on mining, forestry and energy (although there’s no mention of energy pricing). But that is absolutely all it does. Touches. There is nothing firm or final. This is just another plan to be the subject of still more consultation.

For example, the province says it will work with school boards to “support an education system that continues to accommodate the unique needs and circumstances of all Northern Ontario communities.” OK. How?

When it comes to jobs, the province says it will work with industry, labour and related groups to optimize labour market participation for all Northern Ontario residents, “with targeted measures for under-represented groups including the North’s francophone and aboriginal workforce.” Great. And those measures are?

The plan calls for the development of innovative approaches and technologies to deliver training in rural communities. Such as?

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle pointed out the plan is a guide to where in the North the province should — and will, hopefully — invest its money. The thing is, the issues facing the North are far from new. Anyone who lives here has seen these very things brought up again and again by successive governments. Now, the Liberals have published their latest plan, regurgitating them all again. And still there are no concrete answers.

In fairness, it’s hard to come up with an answer if you don’t know the question. So the next step, the Liberals said Friday, is to hold more consultations.
Thunder Bay isn’t just a “service hub,” for example. It’s a northern service hub. That appears to be wholly different thing. How is it different, exactly? Well, that’s hard to say. The province needs to sit down with the various “stakeholders” and figure that out.

We like plans. Plans are good. The North, with its unique challenges and circumstances, needs a plan.

What the Liberals announced on Friday, however, isn’t the answer. It wasn’t ready and it should not have been released, particularly when the government admits it needs to do much more talking before it can figure out what it all means. If it doesn’t know by now, it probably never will.

Gas and heating up north is more expensive, yet McSquinty the dolt wants us to "prosper" up here by raising our heating costs. Sounds like sound logic to me.

kingjim

March 5, 2011

Liberals do not care about the north,they just laugh at us and say stupid people, look at how many jobs lost at Vale and National Grocerier. Rick does not care so long as he is at a Photo Opt. Sudbury is a dying community you can't even get a bed in the hospital.

mikey27

March 6, 2011

It's high time Northern Ontario broke away from the southern leeches and developed our own vast natural resources with our own people and power generation. We'd be far better off as a "have not province" than the way the south treats us now.

The big question to ask Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle when he unveils his long-awaited Northern Development Growth Plan Friday is this:

Is this really about jobs, development and good health and education services for the North?

Or is this a last-ditch pitch by the Liberals to shore up their fortunes in a part of the province that has felt shunned and ignored for the past seven years?

The Conference Board of Canada released damning figures Thursday that reveal northern Ontario had the second slowest growth in the country — after northern Quebec.

Hard hit by the downturn in forestry and associated manufacturing, from 1999-2008, northern Ontario clocked only a 3% growth rate. Quebec's was lowest overall at 2.2% — but neighbouring northern Manitoba's growth rate was 12.2% and southern Ontario came in at 8.5%.

Northerners are tired of having government (a) ignore them or, worse (b) foist on them unpopular programs that sell well with latte-loving eco-babblers in downtown Toronto, but which wreak havoc in the North.

Last year, the government rammed through its Far North Act, over the strenuous objections of northern mayors, chambers of commerce and aboriginal groups who said it will hamper development.

Gravelle would not comment on whether the growth plan will include relief from sky high hydro rates that are threatening to push refining from the ore-rich "Ring of Fire" out of the province.

That happened recently in Timmins, when Xstrata moved its metallurgical site to Quebec, were hydro is cheaper.

Cliff's Resources is the major developer of chromite in northwestern Ontario and is looking for help building a rail line and infrastructure to the remote site and relief on hydro rates.

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson says while the economy of the northwest has been decimated, the northeast is not doing so badly.

But you can thank Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi more than Premier Dalton McGuinty for that.

Unrest in the Middle East is causing gold prices to soar. That makes it more economical to expand older mines and open new ones.

"When you've got $1,400 (an ounce) gold, you build Detour Lake, you build Northwest, you do these things," said Bisson, referring to newly opened and expanded gold mines.

"Cliffs and Ring of Fire — it ain't going to happen unless we deal with the electricity issue and we deal with the infrastructure rail issue," he said.

Bisson said the government's done nothing to address these issues so far and the growth plan is mostly about the Liberals' vulnerability in the north.

With David Ramsay quitting, the Timiskaming Cochrane seat is likely to go NDP. Bill Mauro barely squeaked to victory in Thunder Bay-Atikokan in 2007 and could well lose this time around. Even safe seats like Gravelle's Thunder Bay-Superior North could be up for grabs.

So is this growth plan really about developing the North?

Or is it all about shoring up Liberal political fortunes in a part of the province they've ignored for so long?

I know I'm not alone when I express my disgust over Dalton McGuinty's financially destructive policies that serve no purpose than to tax hardworking citizens into submission and eventually choke out the middle class.

I've had far more than enough of the higher hydro rates, the green energy plan that uses the bogus problem of climate change to justify higher energy costs, and the dreaded HST.

As you can see, this rising of the Ford Nation and the hatred and disdain for the McGuinty government spans across all of Ontario, and in no way is limited to the Torontonians who voted in Rob Ford.

So, if the Ontario Liberals want to lie to themselves and try to manipulate Ontarians into thinking that the Ford Nation is nothing to worry about, then they truly are in for a serious reality check come October.

At this point, with McGuinty's approval rating at almost the lowest in the country for any Premier, with or without the Ford Nation mobilized, the Ontario Liberals are finished. The McGuinty Liberal Government will go down as one the biggest failures and scandal-plagued governments in the history of Ontario.

Unfortunately for Ontarians though, we will still be feeling the pains of McGuinty's failed leadership long after he's gone.